On completion of the refit, I intend to undertake a series of offshore passages culminating in a circumnavigation in a few years time.
The shorter term plans are as follows:
By my current estimations, the launch is expected to take place in the late spring/early summer of 2026 in Weymouth (Dorset), as the marina there has the nearest travel hoist to Tarka.
From there, there will be inevitable post-launch problems to be solved, followed by sea trials from Weymouth back to Lowestoft – where I intend to berth her (the south coast is no place for small pockets!).
Around Great Britain and Ireland Non-Stop
Thus begins the first major passage: This will be an anticlockwise non-stop circumnavigation of Great Britain and Ireland planned for Summer 2026. I chose this route as a means to take my first steps in long distance solo sailing, while staying within a rough boundary of 200nm to the nearest safe haven. Most of the route however, is within 90nm of the shore, much of which is home turf. My current feeling is to make the passage anticlockwise as this will hopefully facilitate a downwind leg up the English Channel, though the weather at the time will of course the determining factor.
From Lowestoft, I’ll make my way up the North Sea to the Shetland Islands, and take a left, heading for Rockall (an uninhabited Islet 160nm west of St. Kilda). I’ll then head for Fastnet Rock on the south west coast of Ireland, before crossing the Celtic Sea, making my way back up the English Channel, through the Dover Straits, across the Thames Estuary, up past the Essex and Suffolk coasts, and back to Lowestoft!
This route is 2000nm and is predicted to take between 20 (100nm a day) and 30 days (67nm a day), (Hopefully closer to 20).
Around the Atlantic
(Stay tuned…)
